Landfill report deferred 4 months

The impact statement is needed as part of Waimanalo Gulch's proposed expansion

The city Department of Environmental Services has revised the time line on when it expects to have a final environmental impact statement completed on a proposed extension and expansion of the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.

A final environmental impact statement is now expected in July, about four months later than the target date presented to the Land Use Commission in April.

Wilma Namumnart, assistant chief of the city Refuse Division, noted that the target dates presented in April were best estimates and that revisions were expected. The latest estimates were included in a status report sent to the commission yesterday.

Although the date for the final environmental impact statement was pushed back, the city still expects site improvements, an expansion cell and permit approvals to be completed by May 1, 2008, when the landfill's current state special-use and Health Department operating permits both expire.

In the status report to the Land Use Commission, Environmental Services Director Eric Takamura said the permits were being reviewed and that changes would be requested at the appropriate time.

The first draft of the environmental impact statement is expected by December or January, with the public-comment period coming a month later.

Takamura said some tasks on the updated time line have already started, noting that public meetings were held in the community in July with at least one more scheduled Aug. 10 at Kapolei Hale.

Community groups have opposed the expansion and continued use of the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.

Robert Kaialau III, chairman of the Landfill Public Education Task Force, has said he hopes people who want more emphasis on alternatives to a landfill would "voice their concerns" at the city-sponsored meetings.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann said in April that the city must continue to have a landfill, even as it investigates alternate technologies to reduce the amount of garbage put in the landfill.

The 200-acre Waianae Coast landfill takes in about 560,000 tons of garbage a year, according to city estimates. The proposed expansion would allow it to continue operating at that rate for about 15 more years.